A dog-owner was left in shock after a piece of poisoned sausage was thrown into her back garden where her pet was playing.

Lydia O'Byrne described how she happened to be stepping out the back door to call her beloved terrier Freddie in, when she noticed he was eating something.

The horrified pet owner picked up a piece of the chorizo sausage, to realise it had been hollowed out and stuffed with rat poison.

"Someone tried to kill our dog Freddie," she said.

"Three large chunks of chorizo sausage were thrown into our garden from the lane behind our house. The sausages were hollowed out and stuffed with rat poison.

"I just happened to be going to the back door to call Freddie in, when I saw him eating something. A piece of the sausage had landed on the patio table.

"Only for that, I wouldn't have know what he had eaten."

Lydia picked up Freddie and rushed him to the emergency department at the UCD Vet Hospital.

Pictured: The piece of sausage that was thrown into the garden

She described how rat poison would have resulted in internal bleeding which in turn would have shut down Freddie's organs.

"The vet confirmed that the piece that Freddie had ingested was enough to give him a pretty grim outlook. We were so lucky that we twigged it after he ate just one piece!," Lydia wrote on her Facebook post, which has since been shared thousands of times.

Freddie after his visit to the vet

The South Dublin native reported the crime, which occurred in the Dundrum/Goatstown area, to gardai.

She warned pet-owners in the area; "Beware! Make sure to scan your gardens.

"If anyone has any information or suspicions please contact me or Dundrum Garda Station who are currently acting on the information they have."

Lydia said Freddie is recovering at home and "enjoying lots of cuddles".

"Thank you so much to the out of hours UCD Vet Hospital who acted so quickly to save Freddie and thanks to Dundrum Gardaí , who are a caring group of dog lovers too," she added.

Gardai confirmed to Independent.ie that they are currently investigating the incident.